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FOR INFORMATION 

CONCERNING 

PROPERTY IN CLIFTON, N. J., 

ADDRESS 

L. F. SPENCER, 55 Leonard St., 
New York. 



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(See Inside Back Covek.) 



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ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS, 



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^ L. K. SF^KNCER 

PUBLISHER. 



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MAR 30 1885 



COPYRIGHT SECURED. 



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NEW YOEK, LAKE EEIE & WESTEEN E.E, 



COMMUTATION 

NEW YORK AND CLIFTON, INCLUDING FERRY. 



Yearly Tariff, ■ • ■ $(>3 oo 

Half Yearly " . . . . 38 oo 

Quarterly " . . . 21 50 



First Month, 
Second '' 
Third 
Fourth " 
Fifth 
Sixth 

Seventh " 
Eighth 
Ninth 
Tenth 
Eleventh " 
Twelfth - 



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8 


25 


7 


35 


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30 


5 


95 


5 


85! 


5 


65 


5 


50 


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75 


4 


50 


4 


25 


3 


90 



MAIL ARRIVES AT CLIFTON 8.20 A.M. AND75.26 P.M. 
MAIL CLOSES, 8.10 A. M. AND 5.20 P. M. 



10 




11 




12 



HE inquiry often comes from persons living in 
crowded quarters of New York, and paying ex- 
cessive rents : "Where can I find a quiet, health- 
ful place, convenient to my business, where I can 
economize without suffering in mind, and escape the 
everlasting squeeze of :in over crowded city ? " 




COTTAGES NEAR CLIl'ToX DEPOT 



Some of them live in Harlem and speak impatiently 
of comfortless trips on the elevated roads, where a man 
must often stand for miles before his nervous w^atching 
rewards him with a seat. Others, too weary to climb 
the long stairways, struggle for standing room in the 



13 




14 

dragging horse cars, and reach home more tired than if 
they had walked. 

Such is life in New York for those whose fortunes will 
not admit of central elegance, and whose self-respect 
will not endure the tenement house, nor the dismal, fad- 
ing quarters deserted by the rich. 

The design of this little book is to give reliable infor- 
mation to any persons meditating a change from city to 
suburban life. And by illustrations from photographic 
views, to give a truthful glimpse of the character of the 
place it specially commends. 

The first desideratum in choosing a home should be 
healthfulness of site and surroundings; then convenience 
of access to business, local privileges, good neighbors, 
beauty and variety of landscape, follow as important 
points to consider. When to these advantages, at a 
moderate price for land, can be added a good garden 
soil, an abundance of pure water, coal at less cost per 
gross ton than the little ton of the city, is it not worth 
while to examine the claims of such a place ? 

Of all the villages within twenty miles of New York, 
none combine the Jabove attractions more completely 
than Clifton, in Passaic County, New Jersey. 

The station on the New York, Lake Erie and Western 



15 




1(^ 

road is about twelve miles from Pavonia Ferry, or 
measured by time, is forty-five minutes from Chambers 
Street, New York. Twenty-eight passenger trains on 
the Erie road stop daily at Clifton. There are also 
stations on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and 
the Newark and Paterson roads, giving ample facilities 
for reaching all the neighboring cities from either side 
of the town. 

The general healthfulness of this locality is unques- 
tioned. The ground is gently undulating, thus afford- 
ing natural surface drainage. The sub-soil is gravel, 
underlying which is fine sand ; consequently there are 
no stagnant pools concealed in rock cavities, which can- 
not dry out. Therein the soil of Clifton differs from the 
rocky ridge of Bergen Heights, the northern part of 
New York Island and much of Westchester county. 

Chas. F. Wingate, in an article recently published in 
the New York Tribune, on the over-crowded condition 
of New York and the remedy for it, says: ''There is 
room for a million people in the environs of New York, 
could the bane of malaria be removed. What more in- 
viting places of residence than Staten Island or Bay 
Ridge, or Fort Hamilton, fronting on our noble harbor, 
if they could be made healthful? If the syndicate of 



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21 



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22 

capitalists, who contemplate buying Cuba, would invest 
a few millions in removing malaria from these sections 
they would find a bonanza in the speculation. Staten 
Island is notorious for its chills and fever, and the in- 
convenience and cost of travel have proved permanent 
obstacles to the growth of that beautiful neighborhood. 
The official death rate of Hudson county, including Ho- 
boken, Jersey City, Bayonne, Jersey City Heights and 
Weehawken, proves beyond any theories what is the 
sanitary condition of that region. Westchester county 
is too distant and the expense of travel too great." 

Mr. Wingate, in casting about for the best means of 
relieving New York, quotes from another eminent 
author, formerly a resident of that city, as follows : 
" The grand fundamental final remedy is to lessen the 
pressure on Manhattan Island, by making Staten Island, 
Westchester county and Long Island fit for human hab- 
itation by killing the fever and ague. Effectual drain- 
age on a grand scale will do this. Staten Island, for 
example, would speedily be filled with people." 

This is all very well for some future generation, 
when Mr. W.'s faith and the needed millions are under 
the same control ; but while the fair fields and gently 
rising slopes of healthful ground beyond the salt mead- 



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24 

ows of New Jersey can be bought at prices within the 
reach of all who are in earnest to secure homes of their 
own, those who are living in the present will not wait 
for the slow process of redemption urged by Mr. Win- 
gate. 

Lying between the two thriving cities of Paterson 




RESIDENCE OF N. VAN HOVEN. 



and Passaic, which are rapidly growing towards each 
other, it is a question only of time when Clifton will be 
the centre of a great city. Now is the time to secure 
homes there, at prices within the reach of persons of 
very moderate means. It is not a bare and treeless 



25 




waste, like many of the crude, uncanny places started 
by non-resident speculators ; but is already beautified 
by many substantial homes, in which the owners have 
resided many years. Lawns, trees and vines are well 
established and improving year by year. The streets 
have been scientifically graded and maps filed ; and 
what land there is for sale now, is held by parties whose 
private interests are large enough to secure the town 
against nuisances of any kind, and insure a solid, 
steady growth. 

The Clifton Grove Hotel is conveniently reached from 
the station by a stone walk. The Grove itself, near by, 
is unsurpassed by any in the state. A cool and charm- 
ing retreat, much prized by summer boarders of the 
place. 

The " Union Chapel " affords a commodious and taste- 
ful gathering place for the citizens on many occasions 
beside the regular Sunday services. 

A modern school-house, centrally located, is well 
attended, and efficiently managed. 

A brawling brook, that never fails in any drought, 
and from which many a trout is hooked, supplies the 
power to several mills upon the outskirts of the place, 
and, with dams and falls, makes romance as it goes. 



27 




38 

The owner of one mansion, Mr. Geo. V. De Mott, has, 
at great expense, diverted a portion of this stream from 
its natural bed, thus forming (as shown on the front 
cover of this book) a large fish pond in his lawn, as well 




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CLIFTON SCHOOL HOl'SE. 

as amply supplying his house with excellent water by 
means of a ram, and then letting the brook go again 
-" to join the brimming river," the river being the beau- 
tiful Passaic, which flows within half a mile of the Clifton 
depot. Quite near is the famous Dundee dam, which 
broadens the river into a pretentious lake, three miles 




^'i:^ 



30 
in length and makes it a favorite resort for aquatic 
sportsmen. 

A strikin"g feature of Clifton scenery is the dark back- 
ground formed by " First Mountain," which, beginning 
at Garrett Rock, near Paterson, extends for miles to 
the southwest until it dwindles to the less precipitous 
hills of Montclair. 

The houses of Clifton, as will be seen by the accom- 
panying illustrations, are not of the most sumptuous and 
expensive character, but are generally full of comforts, 
many of them having water and drainage facilities equal 
to any in the city. It is a quiet, orderly, happy commu- 
nity, where children can enjoy freedom with safety and 
parents can spend their days in peace. 

The Clifton Land and Building Association have for 
sale some of the most eligible property in the place, and 
are now prepared to offer it on fully as liberal terms as 
any that are advertised by other land companies. 

Purchasers of lots who may desire to build dwellings, 
but lack sufficient means to do so at once, will be assisted 
on a most generous scale. Payments may be made in 
monthly installments, and any amounts paid in excess of 
interest on advances will be credited on the principal. 
Appointments will be made with persons desiring to visit 



81 




32 
Clifton for the purpose of inspecting property with a view 
to purchase. Those applying earliest will have the first 
choice of sites. 

For particular information concerning property in 

Clifton, address 

L. F. SPENCER, 

55 Leonard Street, 

New York. 



Mr. Spencer is agent for the Clifton Land and Build- 
ing Association and also for other parties who have some 
very desirable property for sale. 




33 




POPULAR RECREATION! 



INSTANTANEOUS 
PICTURES 

CAN NOW BE 
TAKEN BY 
ANY ONE 



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Our Manual of Instruction 

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" How to Make Photo - 

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lo those who are 

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earning the 

fascinating 

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^<^^^^"lNG CO^.^^ 



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35 




36 
FOR 






ILLUSTRATED ADVERTISING 



CSLENDSRS, SHOW CARDS. 




RNAMENTAL PrINTING, 

ADDRESS. 

L. F. SPENCER, 

rUULISHER OF THIS BOOK, 



COLORED SILKS. 

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An examination especially in- 
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utuol Qlfe insurance Oompany 

OF >EW YORK, 



'^f S beyond question the strongest and safest institution of the kind 
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reproach. It has paid over $216,000,000 to its policy-holders, and 
has now securely invested for their sole benefit $104,000,000. 

Any persons desiring policies on any of the plans issued by this 
Company, or seeking information in regard to Life Insurance, will 
receive prompt and careful attention by addressing 

L. F. SPENCER, 

At the Office of JOSIAH T. BROWN, 

Agent of the Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York, 

145 BROADWAY. N. Y. 






LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




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thp: old mill-pond. 



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